Hanger



HANGER Filed Oct. 4, 1965 INVENTOR FRANK D. BUZZELLI M 4. K ma AT? 0 RNEY United States Patent 3,276,645 HANGER Frank D. Buzzelli, 22055 Brandon, Farmington, Mich.

Filed Oct. 4, 1965, Ser. No. 492,833

1 Claim. (Cl. 223-95) This application is co-pending with patent application Serial Number 322,310, filed November 8, 1963. It relatesto clothing hangers, and more particularly to a hanger for pants having stirrup straps or loops extending across the bottom of each pant leg. Specifically, it has reference to a hanger formed of a single section of wire or rod, bent and re-bent to form a hanger having a bar engaging loop and a pair of parallel extending support sections adapted to retain a pair of stirrups and or instep straps so that the pants hang downwardly from the support sections in an inverted manner.

As disclosed in the following description of a preferredembodiment of my invention, the hanger is formed so as to have a curved hook section adapted to engage a normal closet bar; a shank section, extending downwardly in an inclined angle and connecting to one end of a pair of support members which include sections extending equally on opposite sides of a center line through the hook and have vertical sections which act as the stops for the straps at both of their ends.

It is the primary object of the present invention to form such a hanger out of a single sheet of wire in an economical and aesthetically pleasing manner.

Other objects, advantages and applications of the present invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description of two preferred embodiments of the invention. The description makes reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front perspective view of a first embodiment of my invention bent out of a single length of wire rod;

FIGURE 2 is a side view of the hanger of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a rear view of the hanger of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a second embodiment of my invention which may be formed from extruded aluminum.

Referring to the drawing, the embodiment of FIG- URES 1-3 is formed of a bent section of wire which is preferably circular in cross section. The apparatus for bending the wire in the desired configuration does not form part of the present invention and any well-known techniques and apparatus may be employed for this purpose.

One end of the wire is bent into a curved hook with its extreme end 12 pointed in a downward direction. The hook is intended to support the hanger on a horizontal closet bar of the normal variety. The shank 14 of the hook extends in a downwardly inclined direction, at approximately 45 degrees to the vertical in a direction generally parallel to the extension of the end section 12. At a point somewhat below the end 12, the shank has a slight sidewise bend 16 and continues downwardly at the same angle as the shank 14 but displaced to the side thereof in a section 18. The lower end of the section 18 connects through an acute bend 20 to what will be termed a lower horizontal section 22. The section 22 is horizontal when the hooked end is positioned over a closet bar. All of the other orientations of the hanger with respect to the horizontal and vertical are also taken with respect to this reference attitude.

The lower horizontal section 22 extends in a direction parallel to the plane of the hook 10 and the shank 14 for a length approximately equal to twice the horizontal separation of the .bend 20 from a vertical line through the center of the hook or through the closet bar that the hook is hanging upon. In other words, a vertical plane through the center of the hook perpendicular to the lower 3,276,645 Patented Oct. 4, 1966 "ice horizontal member 22, would bisect that member. At its extreme end, the lower horizontal section 22 is acutely bent at 24 to form an upwardly inclined section 26 which projects in the general direction of the hook 10. This section is relatively short and its upper end is joined by an acute bend 28 into a short vertical section 30. The lower end of the section 30 is disposed directly above the lower horizontal section 22. The lower end of the section 30 is connected by a degree bend 32 into an upper horizontal section 34 which extends parallel to and directly above the lower horizontal section 22.

At a point shortly before it would intersect the inclined section 18 the upper horizontal section 34 is bent upwardly in a 90 degree angle at bend 36 into a short vertical section 40. A degree bend 40 at the upper end of the vertical section displaces a connecting vertical section 44 on the opposite side of a plane through the hook 10 and shank 14 by a distance equal to the displacement of the members 18, 22, and 34 from that plane on the opposite' side. Thus, the vertical section 44 extends parallel to the vertical section 40 on the opposite side of the plane through the hook member 10. At its lower end, a 90 degree bend 46 connects the vertical section 44 into an upper horizontal member 48 which is parallel to and complementary to the upper horizontal member 34. A 90 degree bend 50 at the rear end of the member 48 connect-s to a vertical section 52 which extends parallel to the vertical section 30 and an acute bend 54 at the upper end of the vertical section 50 connects to a downwardly inclined section 56 that extends parallel to the section 26. An acute bend 58 at the lower end of the inclined section 56 connects to a lower horizontal section 60 that parallels the lower horizontal section 22 on the opposite side of the plane through the hook 10. An acute bend 62 at the forward end of the lower horizontal section 60 joins it to an upwardly inclined section 64 that parallels the section 18.

The hanger is completed by a short bend section 66 on the upper end of the section 64 which complements the bend 16 and terminates at the upper end of the bend 16.

The hanger thus formed is adapted to be hung on a standard closet bar and a pair of stirrup straps attached to the end of stretch pants may be supported on the sections 34 and 48 by bringing them over the bends 28 and 54. The length of the sections 34 and 48 are wide enough to accommodate the widest straps and yet the upwardly bent end sections 30, 52, 40 and 44 prevent even narrow straps from sliding sufiiciently to bring the structure off balance. Basically, the straps are supported in the general area of the center of gravity of the hanger below the closet bar.

The provision of the members 48 and 34 directly over the members 22 and 60, allows the use of a smaller diameter wire than would be required if the vertical extensions were opposed directly on the lowermost members 22 and 60, and the upper members 34 and 48 were eliminated. This is because a single stirrup member will surround both of one of the upper and lower sections, such as the members 48 and 60. As the weight of the pants hanging by the stirrup causes the upper section 48 to bend at its right end, as viewed in FIGURE 1, the hanger will begin to bear on the lower member also, and the unit will thus be adapted to support twice the weight, without bending, that it would if only a single extension were employed. The lower sections 22 and 60 may be also used to support a second pair of ski pants, or other items.

The particular bent configuration avoids the provisions of any ends or sharp edges in the area in which the straps are placed so as to minimize the possibility of the straps snagging on the hanger.

FIGURE 4 discloses a second embodiment of my invention. This embodiment is formed of extruded alumi- 3 num stock. It has a pair of parallel separated leg members 80 and 82 and a hook member 84. The members 80, 82, and 84 are all joined together at one end 86 in the original extruded fashion. The separation between the members 80, 82, 84 and 86 along the major portion of the length is achieved by sawing the original extruded section along twoindented lines 88 and 90' for the major portion of the length of an original section. The free ends of sections 82 and 80 are bent gently upwardly as 92 and 94 and are covered by rubber tip members 96 and 98. Similar rubber cover 100 encloses the free end of the hook section 84.

Having thus described my invention I claim:

A hanger for pants having stirrup-like straps extending across the ends of the legs, formed of a single length of bent wire, adapted to be hung over a horizontal closet bar and comprising: one end section bent in a generally downwardly direct-ed hook adapted to engage the closet bar; an inclined downwardly directed shank section joined to the end of the hook; a first lower horizontal section connected to the shank and displaced from the plane of the hook in a first direction below said hook, an upwardly and downwardly extending bend at the extreme end of the first lower horizontal section connecting it to a first upper horizontal section displaced directly above 2 said first lower horizontal section; an upwardly and downwardly extending bend at the extreme end of the first upper horizontal section connecting it to a second upper horizontal section which extends parallel to and displaced from the first upper horizontal section'on the opposite side of the plane of the hook member; an upwardly and downwardly extending bend at the other extreme end of the second upper horizontal section connecting it to a second lower horizontal section which extends parallel to said first lower horizontal section displaced from it on the opposite side of the plane through the hook and displaced directly below said second upper horizontal section, said hook being disposed over substantially the transverse centers of said first and second upper and lower horizontal sections, whereby a pair of stirrup straps may be placed over the first and second upper horizontal sections between the bends at their respective ends.

' References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,192,167 3/1940 Bagley et al. 22395 X 2,288,551 6/ 1942 Shanahan 223-95 2,994,462 8/1961 Hirsch et a1. 223--85 FOREIGN PATENTS 227,409 5/ 1963 Austria.

JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner. G. KRIZMANICH, Assistant Examiner. 

